Young Minds At Work

Every year, Joe's office does Young Minds at Work day. The boys did it last year so were very excited to get to go back to work with Dad. I'm not sure exactly what happened but here are some photos. 

They each got to make, and launch a pop bottle rocket. 

They also got to participate in a launch as mission control. 

Dad had an afternoon meeting, so I picked them up and we stopped at Chick Fil'a before heading back to school. 

This guy had preschool in the morning but got to join us for lunch. 

The big boys had a blast. Daniel is always inspired to build rockets to fly to Mars. He really enjoys getting to see how things work at Dad's office. 

New Closet

This is a brag on my husband post, so, you were warned. 

While I was in Kansas, Joe took the opportunity to give me a new closet (ok I had already moved everything out in to our bedroom, but he used me being away as a good chance to work in it). 

I don't have any before pictures but it used to have two rods along the back wall and one (that ran into the other one in the corner) on the right side of the closet. There was a lot of wasted space in the corner and I was running out of room on the rods. 

I helped with the redesign and this is how it turned out. 

I love it! There is so much more space and it is more organized. My husband is amazing!!

I also worked on a little project myself. Currently, I was using our towel bar in the toilet room to hang my necklaces with the rest of my jewelry in different places throughout the bedroom. So, I found this idea on Pinterest for organizing it in my closet. And everything was from Ikea so it was super cheap. I did all the painting, put them together, and installed it myself. I also love the earring holder. It's just a $1 picture frame (also from Ikea), that I painted and drilled holes through the plexiglass.  I can be handy too!

Now I just have to keep it clean. 

Auntie Trip to Kansas

My sister had a baby in January, so I took a weekend in March to go visit and help out a little (a very little). 

I drove out myself and got to playing with my niece and nephew right away. 

They are fun kids.

There was a lot of baby snuggling. 

Pretty much in Aunt heaven right here. 

And we made it out of the house a few times for some goodies. 

Some ice cream....

...and a trip to the Nifty Nut House. Don't let the name fool you. There is a ton of candy as well. Yum!

Welcome to the world Esther! We can't wait to see you grow up. 

It was a quick trip but so much fun. I hope I helped more than I hindered but it was fun playing with all the Allemans. Thanks for letting me visit.

Rocket Day at School

One of the parents from Daniel's class hosted a Rocket Day at school this year. They had to build rockets to protect eggs and then launched them with water. Of course, Daniel loved it. He got to build a rocket. 

Patrick got to tag along and Daniel was really sweet making sure he was participating. 

Here's the group before the launch.....

...and the egg after. Oops! The egg didn't make it. 

I think Daniel still enjoyed the day.

A Decade with the Big Boy

Josh is 10!!! I can't believe I have a 10 year old. A friend of mine told me I have now been a mom for a decade. I'm not sure why that sounds so much longer than 10 years, but it does. 

Grandma and Grandpa Weldon were in town so he had special attention all day. 

For dinner, he picked Outback Steakhouse, where he ordered the mac and cheese (I guess they have his favorite). We were joined by the Weldons, including Abby from Germany. 

For dessert, he chose cheesecake. Yum! Lucky us, he shared with the table. 

For his birthday, we gifted him a basketball hoop and has spent the entire next day shooting hoops in the driveway. I think he likes it. 

Happy 10th Birthday, Josh!!!

February 5k

While Joe's cousin, Abby was in town, she wanted to run a race with Daniel and I. She had heard he was quite the runner and wanted to see for herself. So, she found a 5k in our area and we all signed up. It was a little cold so we didn't get much training in, but we were able to finish it. And in our fastest time yet. 30:32. 

This is pre-race

Daniel again placed 2nd in his age division (19yrs and under)

Abby and I even placed in our age division. (I'll let you guess what that was).

Thanks for pushing us, Abby!

Valentine's Day

For their Valentine's parties at school, the boys each picked out their own Valentine's to hand out. 

Daniel's had to be Star Wars.

Patrick didn't pick this out but how cute is this? I found this online. 

Josh didn't want anything too "mushy". I guess he's at that age. 

They all had parties at school. (I guess I didn't take any pictures at Josh's class). 

Then for my Valentine's day, they surprised me with homemade cards and breakfast in bed (s'mores pancakes. Yum).

I'm one lucky lady. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!